Quandries!

The yard sale post scheduled for today has been delayed due to circumstances which I will now explain.  I need to vent/ponder a bit, so I'm doing it here.  Please feel free to chime in if you have any words of wisdom to offer.

I got an email yesterday from the owner of the store where my second booth is.  He has decided to retire and is closing the store at the end of the month!  As in two weeks from now!  I've got until May 5 to get all my crap out of there, but the last day of business is April 30.  I'm really peeved about the totally unprofessional short notice, but I guess that's junking for you.

Rumors have been circulating for a couple of weeks that this was coming.  Supposedly, he's sold the building.  I don't know.  Junkers are a gossipy bunch.  A lot of things you have to let go in one ear and out the other.  Some of the same folks have been saying that the Peddlers Mall is also closing, and I know that ain't happening.

Already the rush has begun for space in the Peddlers Mall.  The two stores are only a couple of miles apart and have always been rivals.  Ironically, some of the vendors who have dissed PM for years and said they'd never rent there may find themselves in the position of calling for space.  I don't know.  Like I said, junkers are a gossipy bunch.  They're also pretty cantankerous.  I try to stay out of all that.  Still, vendors from the closing store started calling PM as soon as they got the email.  The next few days are going to be really chaotic.

As far as the closing goes, I really have no feelings one way or another, except for the short notice.  I have not done well there and won't be financially impacted that much.  I was giving it until the end of June to turn around and was planning to leave if I couldn't make it work by then.  This just moves my plan up a few weeks.

I do have some thinking to do, and it has to be done quickly.  Since I closed out of another store last fall, I've had too much extra stuff sitting around.  That was the whole point of this second store.  I'm not sure whether to just wait it out and run stuff through my current booth set-up (however long it may take) or grab another space in the Peddlers Mall, even if only for a short time.  I really don't need to sit on this much inventory.

April is a bad time to be expanding.  I could be looking at increased expenses with decreased revenue through the summer.  I don't know what to do.  On the other hand, having more stock out during those slow months may help increase the income.

What would you do?  If I don't put in a claim on some space in the next couple of days, I won't have the chance.

One thing is for sure.  The Peddlers Mall is going to be fuller with vendors than it has been in a while.  Hopefully the existing customer base will transfer too.

Give me your thoughts, please.  I'd appreciate it.